FIREFIGHTERS battled through the night to tackle a fire at a barn near Wargrave.

The blaze broke out at Newlands Farm, on the south side of the A4 between Wargrave Road and Charvil, at 8pm on Wednesday.

Six crews used five jets to prevent the fire from spreading to neighbouring barns which contained livestock. They set up temporary traffic lights at the scene, which caused traffic jams as far as the Pound Lane roundabout at Sonning during yesterday’s (Thursday) morning rush hour.

Homes in Wargrave and Twyford briefly lost power at about 9.30pm and Southern Electric confirmed that this was due to the blaze. At 8am yesterday, flames could still be seen inside the building and visibility on the road was reduced due to heavy smoke.

The building was gutted and the burned-out wreckage of a tractor and a JCB digger stood nearby.